The Goal Kick Panel goes outside of it's comfort zone this month and with good reason. The release of Football Manager 08, what do people think? And what do you think about what they think? We have 6 questions this month for 5 participants, if your interested scroll down and take a look. Why are you here if you're not?

1. Football Manager 2008 has come with a completely new design. A blessing? Or do you think otherwise?

Skacel: Well I hate the skin, it's too cluttered at the top and way too bright, luckily I found the Metallic skin and downloaded that, since i've downloaded it i've been playing the game a lot more. Bar the skin not much has changed, a few odds and ends have been patched up and occasionally we get to choose what type of feeder club we want. Same old, same old.

Jamie: I much prefer the old skin to the new one, but I have gotten used to it, although I'm not a player that is especially bothered about the skin. I'm much more concerned about how the game plays and realism if I'm honest. Although having not played FM 07 much, I do love the scouting feature's new design and that, it's brilliant, but it could well have been in 07. It was a good idea to keep the look fresh, it makes a chance for those who have played since 05/06 and something new for those who only latched on by 07.

Red Devil: I think the new 'skin' is growing on certain people who chastised it at the start, but I've liked the new design ever since I downloaded the demo. I love the new white, black and red colour scheme they've gone with, it makes a change from the generic blue and green you see in 90% of other skins. I do have one complaint though, and that is with the issue of the background. It is basically just the same as the box cover art, and I just think SI could have been a bit more inventive on that front.

Jay: My initial reaction was one of intrigue. I had adored the original design on FM06, but FM07 disappointed me and if it was going to be a variation on its predecessor, 08 would be a disappointment. However, I've found the lighter skin and the easily accessible design a breath of fresh air and it has restored my faith in Football Manager games.

JC: I think it is a blessing in certain respects. First of all, I'll bring up the skin. I rather like the default skin, it's sleek, it works, and it sort-of highlights the fact that the game is seen in a new light. Second of all, the kits. The default ones just look like last year's only with bigger dimensions and rotated about 2 degrees. Third thing is the Facegen. Just drop it SI, it doesn't work, it won't work. Every time I load my game, one of my regens has changed race, hair colour and eye colour. It just doesn't do it, and I'd rather look at the grey vacant head than 7 different faces for my regen, one for every day of the week.

2. What do you enjoy most about the new game? What new feature has you coming back for more this time around?

Skacel: The fact it is Football Manager 2008, with the new game comes new tactics, new players new challenges. My favourite thing about the new game is the speed of it, I can complete a season in a few hours which I really love.I also like the fact we can now sign youth players on pre contracts.

Jamie: Scouting feature, but as I mentioned before it could be in 07. I just love being able to send my scouts around the world gaining this knowledge, it's always something I try to do, gain full knowledge, but it also gains me valuable hundreds of 14 year olds who are brilliant in the process. I love the pre match build up as well, whilst it can get a little repetitive, its a great start for a feature like that since its new. Just adds a whole load more realism to the match day in my opinion.

Red Devil: There haven't been any big changes for 08, but I don't mind that, as there is some brilliant, if less noticeable additions, such as the ability to run a filter for players who are similar to another (You'll never have to worry about buying a replacement for Benjani again!) and the new ability to see how many season tickets your club has sold. However, my favourite little addition has to be the new ‘real-time' tactical changes, which enables you to make substitutions and change your formation whilst the game is still going on, just like the managers do with pen and paper on the sidelines in real life.

Jay: Little things like the media and the post-match analysis are clever, but I'm loving the tactical side of the game. I could win everything with Man Utd by playing a basic 4-4-2, default training and buying players on previous installments, but the match-day experience has certainly been taken to the next level.

JC: No individual feature has me coming pack. It's the whole package. There's just something about FM that gives it the ‘one more go' factor. Though the more in-depth Confidence screen has helped me, usually when I highlight a player for his lack of form and it has come up in the Fan Confidence, he goes on to do well the next 2 or 3 matches, so that works pretty neat.
3. Do you feel concerned about any new features? Anything that has made you seriously think about returning the game?

Skacel: No. I get a years gameplay for 25 quid, bugs are expected but thats life.

Jamie: No. I just generally buy the game for how it plays and realism compared to teams abilities and players abilities, so its as good as its always been now.

Red Devil: I wouldn't go as far as saying that I would return the game, however there are a few things that do disappoint me, starting with one of the small new ‘features'. The option to be able to change pitch size is a nice little idea, but I feel it hasn't been developed well enough and there is not enough choice for users, especially if your club is playing in European competition, where they have limits for how big the pitch can be. Another thing I am hugely disappointed with is not strictly in-game, as it is graphics-wise. This year, all the files for the kits, logos, faces etc. are in .FMF files which are impossible to open apparently. This means that the default kits and logos can't be deleted as easily as they could on the last game, and some people, including me, have had problems with having the default kits still visible underneath the custom made ones (SS08, JS08 etc.) from FMGLive.

Jay: Certainly nothing that drastic, although there are a few bugs apparently. The lack of people closing down when you've put maximum closing down toggled on the team instructions is also going to be a bit of a problem for me, but I'm getting used to it and it's realistic anyway. No team just throws themselves into tackles, they close down and try and rush the players down to the wings, keep them on the outside.

JC: The FaceGen thing should definitley go for reasons given in question 1. But nothing that's so serious that I'd consider bringing back the entire game. But seriously though, the FaceGen, although spiffy as it may have first sounded, has been executed woefully.

4. Which has been the best edition of Football Manager in your opinion? In what order would you put them? (ex. 2005 > 2007 > 2008 > 2006) Explain why.

Skacel: I really liked 05, there was just something about it, a real sense of playability, I'll never forget my Chelski team led by Labinot Harbuzi and Michael Delura. But so far i've been very impressed by 08, the speed of the game and the degree of toughness have really rekindled my love for the game as tbh. I thought FM07 was way too easy and 08 is a lot tougher, i've already heard a few people complain about how shit the game is because of the bugs and how they can't win, but their just shite at the game, sure we all get the closing down bug but people blame every loss they get on that bug.

Jamie: 05.It's where everything has built from and was a fantastic start, without that game being so good I dont think FM would be near the standard that it is now. Also gave the game great exposure due to the quality meaning the game would get more time put into production etc.

Red Devil: I didn't actually purchase FM05, and I think it would be unfair to rate FM08 alongside the other games, especially after just 2 weeks of release. So, that just leaves FM06 and FM07. I had more game time with 07, although I was sidetracked by the forums a little, whereas on FM06, I didn't even know that GK, susie, TI etc. even existed. For cult status, 06 will probably go down with the legends of the CM series, 01/02 and 03/04 in particular. However, there was something about FM07 that just made it addictive, maybe the sheer unpredictability of it, or just the brilliant design and features, I don't know. At a push, I'd say that FM06 just edges 07 to the title of best Football Manager so far, but in the week or so I have had Football Manager 08, I have been well and truly hooked.

Jay: 2008 > 2006 > 2005 > 2007. Football Manager 2008 has all the imagination and potential to be my favourite football manager simulation game ever, even better than my escapades on CM01/02. 06 kept me busy for two years so it has to be up there and even though I've only played 05 as a demo game, but even that was better than the largely blocky and unplayable 07.

JC: I've never played the 2005 version so I'm going to omit it. 08 > 06 > 07. 07 just didn't really click for me, I don't know why, but it just lacked that edge I got form both 06, 08 and even CM01/02. 06 had a sleek default skin, good, unbuggy match engine (well I never had any problems with it), and as I didn't bother with graphics, I was able to enjoy the experience, even on a lower-end computer, as I had at the time. 08 though on my high-end laptop runs well. I have few to no graphics for it so far, but that hasn't stopped me enjoying both my demo save and my first proper full game, one which I don't intend on abandoning any time soon.

5. From your brief experience with Football Manager 2008 so far, who would you say are some of the best young players and/or bargains in the game?

Skacel: Matias Fernandez, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Samuele Bettoni, Cristian Daminuta, Giannis Papadopoulos, Baba Collins, Patrik Lomski, Anders Bo, Alexandru Chipciu, Tiago Lima, Arnes Mravac, Marko Marin, Matias Cahais, Bogdan Stancu, Seb Giovinco, Pichu Atienza. ([i]Ed: Fuuuucckk…[/i])

Jamie: There are countless 14/15 year olds from Brazil and Argentina that just pwn the world. But Lulinha to make mention of one has been fb.

Red Devil: As I've already said, I don't think its right to judge after just one or two weeks in playing the game, but I've come across a few, mainly a young striker from Red Star named Sead Banda. He is a 17 year old who scores virtually all their goals (22 in 30 games last season). I've tried to sign him for my Everton side, but it is hard to get a Work Permit for young Eastern European players, and my appeal was rejected. I also signed a young Brazilian right-back named Fagner, who does the job but is nothing spectacular. I need to be more adventurous with my scouting, I get all the good players from the internet! ([i]Ed: Hehe.. Fagner… I should stop commenting.[/i])

Jay: The vast majority of my games as average top flight sides have found myself trying to grab Barthez, Ignashevich, Eric Addo and Hatem Trabelsi on free transfer. Nicky Maynard has certainly become less of a wonderkid and the likes of Michael Johnson and Ashley Young as well as Nani and Anderson, have been rated highly.

JC: As I'm Finn Harps, I haven't had the money, or the reputation, to sign any players of real quality. However Steve Cann (ex-Derby trainee goalie) has done well between the sticks since I've signed him on a Bosman. Hopefully I can expand on my knowledge of the new breed of superplayers on the block once I've delved in to a club with a higher reputation and better scouting knowledge.

6. Finally, what are your thoughts on the match engine? And how important is the match engine to your Football Manager experience?

Skacel: The engine did have a lot of flaws, but post match it has been vastly improved. In the first month or two of the game i depend on the engine alot for my tactics creation but after that i usually just pop on text only and full speed.

Jamie: I personally can't see much of a change, but I'm not that attentive on things sometimes, but its still good so I have no compaints whatsoever.

Red Devil: I think the match engine on 08 is pretty much perfect, especially with the previously mentioned real-time tactical changes, which really add to the game-playing depth. There are still the slight bugs, such as the ball going past the keeper and the opposition taking 2 minutes to take a free-kick, but I'm sure these will be ironed out in SI's next patch, which is a nice thing to end on as I'm sure we're all looking forward to it.

Jay: The match engine has to be quick, to the point and easy to make tactical changes and this year's match engine ticks all the right boxes. It definitely gives the game a new lease of life and improves the game in general from the days of words being scripted out on 01/02.

JC: The match engine isn't that important, but the "tactics-on-the-fly" doesn't work. Simple reason is, why do it on the fly? Hit Pause, then go ot the tactics screen. But other than that, it's good that you get a chance to see the referee's previous game history, and find out before you submit your teamsheet who your opposition is missing through injusy and suspension.

Fin.1. Going by the lack of new sites being opened, do you think, in a sense, that the scene has matured a bit in the last few months, or that people aren’t really bothered about the power-hungriness any more?

JordanC : Power-hungriness isn’t really the choice of words that I’d use, but I do believe the community recently hasn’t produced a great deal of members with leadership attributes. There will always be people looking for FM resources and insightful discussion, yet only a select few really take that to a higher level and produce their own initiatives. I do like the growing trend of specialized fansites such as FMGLive (graphics) and FM-Britain (tactics) that show more authentic enthusiasm towards a certain aspect of the FM series. Opening a new forum just to have your “own” seems to lack the proper mentality if you’re looking to attract new interesting gamers to join our scene as a whole.

Mase : There are still one or two new sites cropping up that seem like they just won’t last, but I do agree there seems to be a lot less than usual. I think people are just all to happy to go somewhere that has already ‘made it’ so to speak. There were times when people would say to me that they didn’t understand why MC was so inactive as it seemed to be a great little site with good discussion and great FM topics. Now, we have quite a lot of activity and I notice that a lot more of the ’scene regulars’ decide to check us out. I think they’re just all too happy to go for the easy ride. It pisses me off, but who can blame them? They’re not staff, they don’t need to try hard to make a site successful. They just want to go somewhere that there is plenty for them to get involved in.

Frankie 7 : I think that people are now beginning to see that not just anyone can open up a site. It seemed for a while there that everyone and anyone thought all they had to do was open up a forum, Get a couple of names in and they would have a successful site. But they just did not have a clue to all the hard work that goes in behind the scenes. Everyone seems to be going and sticking with the more well-established sites now like Susie, GK and the SI Forums as well.

Bozza : I think people are finally realizing that starting a new site isn’t just a days work. A while back, I noticed that everyone wanted to start a new site but almost all of them closed the site after a couple of weeks when they realized that making a site isn’t such a hard job perhaps but running it and trying to make a name for it in the FM scene is. FM is surely the game that provides by far the most downloads and the fans are expecting everything from a site. Downloads, graphics, good content, guides, database update etc. etc. In order for a site to give that all to the fans, it needs to work extremely hard and have one hell of a crew. A lot of people are underestimating that.

Kazzy : Personally, I think it’s more due to the fact that most new starting sites get completely and utterly flamed during the early days of their existence, putting off newbies creating their own site. In this sense, the scene is it’s own worst enemy. I would certainly like to think that the power-hungriness has at the very least gone down and that the scene has matured but I severely doubt it.

2. Lots of sites are predicting a post-Christmas slump whereby people will be stuck in with their new gadgets and gizmos they got. Do you think activity will rise again before or after the imminent release of the February 8.0.2 FM patch?

JordanC : I think this all depends on the sites themselves. One thing I’ve learned in performing stand-up comedy for ten years is to never blame the crowd for a bad show. There’s always something you can do to foster activity by writing new articles, starting challenges, discussing tactics, etc. You can’t expect regular users and forum posters to do this for you. As a site administrator/moderator, it really comes down on your own shoulders whether or not you can survive an apparent activity slump. From my experience, as long as you invoke interesting new content, there will always be people lining up at your front door.

Mase : Well, I’ve noticed it on MC already. Some of our staff are busy playing with themselves. Or their new toys a lot. It’s inevitable I guess, but I’m sure it’ll pick back up in a few weeks, and the new patch will definitely get some interest back. Hopefully the majority of sites can keep some level of activity up though.

Frankie 7 : I don’t think activity will go down at all, If anything I have noticed activity has risen a little.
With Christmas just past, A lot of people only got the game and are only beginning to get into it. I have noticed on our own forums that more people are seeking advice, Newbies to the scene and to the game, and also are seeing what can be added to the game in terms of Graphics and Database’s. I think the game itself just out the box isn’t really that good, but the patch makes it just that little better. This will get them hooked until the last patch is released from SI Towers.

Bozza : I bet a lot received their game under the Christmas tree but FM is still a game which you buy when it comes out. I think 95-99% of the (die-hard) fans bought the game within one month of the release date. You shouldn’t forget that most people just buy or get the game and never visit a FM site. The release of the February 8.0.2 FM patch is a different story. When that time comes, a lot of people will be a bit tired with the game or with the bugs. The release of the patch is also in the month after the transfer window closed so almost everyone will enjoy starting a new game with all the latest transfers and a new patch which will fix a lot of (small) bugs probably. To answer your question, I think the activity will rise the most after the release of the February 8.0.2 patch.

Kazzy : Christmas is always the time of the year when most members find a small morsel of a social life. I personally hope activity will come back just after the new year and before the February patch and data update, especially since a lot of people may have got the game for Christmas and may look towards the Scene.

3. A lot of boards are questioning the uses of having front pages before the forums. Do you think main sites are important pre-forum steps, or should they generally be done away with on certain discussion sites?

JordanC : I’m a very, very, very big supporter of having main sites. Although scene regulars and old-timers may view this aspect as unimportant since they focus their time on forums, newbie FM users are generally looking for hard content. Whether it be skins, tactical guides, training schedules, database updates, reviews & opinions, it is the main doorway for most people to get involved in the FM community. New users may find forum-only sites cluttered and difficult to use in addition to the fact that many can find posting as an outsider fairly intimidating. Providing an outlet in mainsite content for these users to gradually get more involved with your site as a whole is a very effective approach. Unfortunately, I find that many sites are not including these “newbies” into their thought process enough and focusing their expansion through current scene regulars instead. The excuse of “get rid of the main site because there’s nothing there” is also invalid. Think more in the opposite direction about why there’s nothing there in the first place. Produce regular updated content! I bet if more sites put energy into that, there wouldn’t even be a debate over getting rid of front pages and main sites.

Mase : Of course you need a mainsite! People on the scene forget. FM is a multi-million selling game. There aren’t even a million people on the scene. I only knew a ’scene’ existed two years ago. But I had been on the mainsites of places like The Dugout looking for players over 6/7 years ago! You never know when someone will be ion your mainsite looking at a player or team guide and click on the ‘forums’ button out of interest…

Frankie 7 : This depends on the member really. On one hand, Main sites are useful for those members who are just too lazy to search around forums to find what they are looking for. But on the other hand, Most users don’t even bother with main sites. I myself think main sites are not needed. You have everything you want in forums just as well as you can in a main site. I think in time, Main sites will disappear and we will be left with forums as that is where all the activity really is. I don’t think they should be done away with, it really depends on the people who run that site to discuss between themselves. I just think there won’t be as much use for main sites in the future.

Bozza : FM is a great game to talk about. Sharing your experiences, ask for help or just brag about your winnings. To do that you need a forum and that’s why a forum is probably the most important feature of a site. But not everyone visits a site to interact with other FM fans. Some just want to browse around, download some stuff or perhaps read a couple of guides. For those people it’s good to have a front page so they can easily navigate. The same goes for visitors who are not familiar with the FM scene and don’t know where to look and how to find certain things. As for the founder(s) of the site, it’s always nice to have a good looking front page since it’s the first thing visitors will see when entering your site.

Kazzy : The main site is the first thing that people will see when they visit a website. If I found a forum without a main site when I visited a website, 9 times out of 10 I would close that window. A main site should be the main focal point of the whole website and I would personally rate that every time over forums.

4. Why do you think the scene tends to disassociate itself from both the XBox 360 and PSP Handheld versions of the game?

JordanC : I believe the primary reason is due to access. It’s very rare to find users that purchase the same game on multiple platforms. Football Manager has been on the PC for over a decade, so most of us in the scene will only play that version over all others. I really don’t think the lack of coverage is intentional though. Most of the topics of discussion tend to be similar across the board anyways so articles geared towards the PC game still is a service to the XBox and PSP users.

Mase : I genuinely don’t think there are that many people playing FM on those consoles when compared to the PC community. That and the fact that it’s more practical that people who play it on the PC can then switch between the internet and FM thus meaning they get loads of FM and scene time. I’ve played FM on the PSP and it just isn’t the same in my opinion.

Frankie 7 : In my opinion this is because most people play the PC version. Not many that I have seen on our forums play the console version the hand held version. It’s as simple as that for me. I don’t know about hand held, But can’t people just get the same info needed, Like follow the same guides and tactical advice and it would work the same?

Bozza : Football Manager is a series that goes back a long, long time (previously known as Championship Manager of course). There were so many releases of the game before the first one for the console came out. I think people are used to play it on the PC. It’s also a typical PC game. All you need is a mouse basically. It makes it easy to navigate on a PC, easier than on a console with the controller. Another thing is the graphics and utilities. There are so many downloads for FM and all of them are being made for the PC. I think, because of all that, people love to play the game on the PC and are sticking to it.

Kazzy : I think it is less disassociation but more that both the PSP and XBox 360 versions are fairly recent. Also, they don’t enjoy the advantage of being able to minimize the game to go straight onto the Internet and browse for websites on the game. The PC version lends itself perfectly to an Internet society whereas other platforms don’t have that luxury.

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This is where I’ve done things a little differently this month. This is the part where the panelists will be answering a question only relevant to their own site.

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to JordanC : Within the last month or so, we’ve seen get Sacked! rise and rise in popularity. Podcasting aside, what do you think it is about your blog that has people coming back all of the time?

JordanC : Regularly updated content for sure. I pride myself and the site in the fact that I can produce something new every single day for people to digest. Sometimes it’s entertaining audio/video. Sometimes it’s an editorial debate. Sometimes it’s a rehashed view on tactics. Sometimes I just plug an aspect of another fansite. In any case, I make sure that there is always some form of content that people can expect to see on a daily basis. Users almost have to come back often just to see what’s happening - like our weekly Skypecast every Tuesday at 8pm GMT!

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to Mase : What is it about you that makes you so likeable around the forums? We all know Mase the Pisshead by now, but do you put that ‘persona’ on as a gimmick because people love it so much, or is that really you in there, posting whilst wasted at 3AM over at MC?

Mase : I don’t know. I think it may be the fact that even though I’ve got my name in red, I’m still very easy going and just want to have a laugh. FM is meant to be fun, so the community talking about it should be as well. Why come onto a forum if it’s no fun to be on there? That’s just what I think, you’d have to ask people for their opinions though! And yes, I genuinely have been pissed at 3am trying to post and making a dream staff team! I wouldn’t be up at that time if I wasn’t drunk! I have some sort of ‘alcoholic persona’ though. That one isn’t entirely true. I only go out at the weekends with some mates. People just think I’m always pissed for some reason!

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to Frankie7 : We know that FMG has risen to be one of the go-to sites for graphics this past year or so. Do you think, with the plethora of members and graphic makers you have on your books, that the forum could have a lot more potential to be way more active in bot the General FM and Off-Topic areas?

Frankie 7 : Yes it could. And this is something we are working hard on to improve for our members. I am, as we speak, Looking and trawling around the scene looking for members who I think I could add to the team in those relevant sections. The current staff team has tons of ideas and we are working through these ideas’s, seeing which ones are best to go with. But we also look for ideas from our members as well. If new members come and join our forums and want to help out, We would gladly listen to what they have to say.

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to Bozza : With the January transfer window about to start, how do you see the next few months ahead for FMFormation and it’s famous Database Updates? And more importantly, do you think do you think you’ll see an all-new member base with this year’s version?

Bozza : Like always around this time of year it will be a really busy period. As you said, the January transfer window has opened and people are expecting another quality release of our famous FMFormation Database Update. We are going to work around the clock to make sure everyone can start a new game with all the latest in it and to bring back the joy of playing FM to the ones who have lost it.

As for the members, every FM brings more fans with it. More and more people discover the wonderful world of FM and its community. FMFormation is always trying to provide a good home for those people. We’ve got a good number of members who are on FMF a lot and it’s a joy to see how easy new members are being accepted to FMF by the older ones. I believe that’s what a community should be like. To learn from each other and have fun with one another. The only thing the staff of FMF can do is add good content to the site and give visitors and members something to do. I think we are doing that pretty well at the moment and I bet 2008 will bring much joy and new features to FMFormation.

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to Kazzy : Throw-In’s been through more than its fair share of turbulence in the past year or so. Do you think 2008 will see more site stability, and more importantly, growth in the transfer window and after the 8.0.2 patch release?

Kazzy : My main aim for 2008 is to bring a bit of stability to the site. We’ve had a hectic year with the ownership going through more hands than a crowd-surfer, problems with hosts… not to mention the hackings. The hosting is paid up for 10 further months and the main site is imminent so I think stability is the name of the game for this year. Obviously, we also aim to get ourselves back to our (in our opinion) rightful place at the forefront of the Scene but we must learn to walk before we run.